Dumping mechanism for dump cars



R. H. STARBIRD DUMPING MECHANISM FOR DUMP CARS Sept. 4

original Filed Feb. 28

- the upper track.

Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

ROBERT H. STARBIRD, 0F PITTSBURGH,'PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-'JIHIRDk TO LEO BERNARD GRATTON, OF MADERA, PENNSYLVANIA.

DUI/[PING MECHANISM FOR, :DUMF CARS.

Application filed February 28, 1921, Serial No. 448,694. `Renewed February 7, 1923.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ROBERT HENRY STAR- BIRD, a citizen of the United States, residing at E. E. Pittsburgh,

glieny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dumping Mechanism for Dump Cars, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

It is the purpose of the invention to pro'-y vide a device of this character including a car actuated treadle for elevatinga rail section, there being rail sections carried by the treadle for filling gaps in the rails of an upper track, permitting the downward travel of the car upon the upper track, in order to reach the dumping mechanism, which in turn has operative connect-ions with the upwardly tiltable rail section, to restore it to its normal position and also operative connections with a switch point, vwhereby the car mai7 return on a siding track inclined downwardly opposite to the inclination of When the upwardly tiltable rail section is restored to its normal lower position, the actuating treadle is returned by gravity means to its elevated position, in order to be again operated by another car.

Vhile the design and construction at present illustrated and set forth is deemed preferable, it is obvious that as a result of a reduction of the invention toa more practical form for commercial purposes, the invention may be susceptible of changes, and the right to these changes is claimed, provided they are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

The invention comprises further features and combination of parts, as will be here-v inafter set forth, claimed.

ln the drawings Figure 1 is a dumping mechanism including they switch mechanism, showing a treadle which may be actuated by one of the wheels of'a car.

Figure 2 isa view in side elevation of the improved mechanism, showing partsl in section.

Figure 3 is a view similar` to Figure 2, showing the treadle 21 as having beenV operated, and the rail supporting beam 15 raised. Figure- 4 is a detail perspective view of shown in the drawings and in the county of Alle plan view of the improved' the connections between the lever 51 and the latch 58.

Figure 5 is a ydetail sectional view on line 5-5' of Figure 2 showing the latch 58 in"v e y-ieldablel Referring to the drawings, 1 designates an elevated track, which 'is mounted upon the platform 2 consisting of the timbers 3. The rails 4 of the track 1 have gaps 5. The platform 2 is inclined downwardly toward the dumping mechanism, likewise the track 1.

Disposed below the platform 2 and inclined downwardly in the opposite direction isa second platform 6, the end portion? of which is on an inclined plane below and offset laterally relatively to the platform 2,

and this platform 6, comprises transverse timbers 8. A track 9 is mounted on the end portion 7 of the platform 6, hence it will be noted that the track 9 is offset below and laterally relatively to the track 1. Thetrack 9 is curved in order to merge toward and in alignment with the track rail sections 10, which are carried by the tilting platform 13.

Pivotally mounted upon a shaft 14 is a rail supporting beam 15, which carries a rail section 16. It will be noted that this beam together with its rail section :is

mounted to move pivotally upwardly, so as to align with the rails 4 ofthe track 1 and vwith the `rail sections 10. The rail section 16 is of a length in 'order to provide a gap `between the end of said rail section 16 and the railsvof the track l.

Pivotally mounted at 17 and 18 are tiltable levers 19'and 20. The upper corresponding `ends of vthelevers 19 and 2O are pivotally 'connected to a treadle 21, which carry rail 'sections 22 and 23. Therail section23 cor--V responds to and fits the gap 5' in the rail sections 4` while the short rail section 22 corresponds to and ts the gap or space 24 `between the adjacent ends of the rail sections 4 and the rail section 16, that is when the treadle is moved in the direction of theV arrow a. A link 25 pivotally connectsthe lower arms of the levers 19 and 20, to in,

sure the levers 19 and 20 operating in unison. A weight 26 is suspended from the lower end of the lever 19, and acts to assist in restoring the treadle to its upper normal position, whereby one end may be engaged by one of the car wheels 27 of the dump car 28.

A stud shaft 29 is mounted in a bearing 3() of one of the beams of the platform, and pivotally mounted upo-n the stud shaft 29 is a bell crank lever 31. A link 32 pivotally connects one arm of the bell crank lever 31 and the lower arm of the lever 19. It is obvious that when thetreadle is moved in the direction of the arrow c, so that thc rail sections 22 and 23 may fit the gaps 24 and 5, thelink 32 imparts movement to the bell crank lever 31, the other arm of which is pivotally connected at 33 to a project-ion 34 of the rail supporting beam 15. Obviously when the bell crank lever 31 is tilted on its pivot, the rail supporting beam 15 is moved upwardly on its pivot, and to a position, so that the rail section 22 may y'tit the gap 24, the ends of the rail section 22 engage the adjacent ends of the rail sections 4 and 16.

The tiltingv platform 13 is fulcrnmed on the shaft 35, and the rail sections l0 of this platform terminate in wheel engaging horns or curved portions 36. l`l7h'en the dump car travels from the position shown in Figure 2, operating' the treadle` placing the rail seo tions 22 and 23 to fill the gaps 5 and 24 and moving the rail supporting beam 15 upwardly on its pivot, the car will travel the rail 16 vand the opposite rail 4, and will then travel t-he rail sections 10,. until the front wheels of the dump car will engage the horns vor curved portions 36. `When the front wheels engage the horns 36, the platform 13 will tilt upon its fulcrum 35', the car will then discharge its contents;

One of the rails v9 terminates in a switch point 37, while the other rail 9 merges into alignment with one of the rail sections 10 of the tilt-ing platform 13. A second switch point 38 is pivoted at 39, and is aligned with the rail section 16 of the rail support'- ing beam 15. This switch point 38 may be moved infto alignment with one of the rails, 9. 1n other words the switch point 38 isv tapered, so that when it is moved toward one of the rails 9, it will Contact therewith, so thattlie flanges of certain of the cai.' wheels will operate from the rail section 16, upon a return of one of the rails 9, and then upon one of the rail sections 10 of the tilting platform. Connecting the switch points 37 and 38 is a. rod or shaft 40, so that the two switch ypoints may move kin unison and simultaneously.-A

Pivotally mounted at 41 tothe platform 6 is a bell crank lever 42, one arm of which has a loose pivoted connection 43 with the rod 40. Connected to the other arm of the bell cra-nklever 42 is a link 44, which in turn is pivoted at 45 to the bell crank lever 46. The bell crank lever' 46 is pivotally mounted at 47 on the beam or timber of the platform 6, and has its arm 48 pivoted at rit leaves the horns 36, to travel the rails 9' and take the siding track.

Carried by the rail sections 10 nea-r the horns 36 is a shaft 50, and mounted pivotally thereon is a latch operating lever 51. This lever 51 is so mounted that it may engagedrby one of the wheels of the dump car, when it is in the act of engaging one of the horns 36. lhen this occurs the lever 51 is tilted upon its pivot, imparting movement to the link 52, which in turn pivotally moves the hinge link 54,- which is pivotally mounted on the stud shaft 14, which pivotally carries the rail supporting beam 15'. A link or rod 53 is pivoted to a second hinge link 54a, to move with the stud shaft 15. In fact the hinge link 54 moves with the stud shaft 1.4. The hinge link 54a is mounted inside of the beam 15, while theis pivotally connected to the bell crank lever 56, which is pivotally mounted at 57 on the inte-rior of the rail support-ing beam 15. T he bell crank lever 57 is operatively cionnected to a. latch 58, which acts to latch and support the rail supporting beam in its raised position.

The rail supporting beam 15 is in the form of a. casing, in one end yof which the latch 58 is mounted. This latch comprises a shaft 62, which is mounted in bearing-s 63 in the upper and lower parts of the casing of said beam. Latch members 58a are pivoted to the upper bearing 63 and are 'adapted to move outwardly through the openings 64 of the sides of the beam casing 15, in order to eng-age side beams 65 of the plattform, to support the rail supporting beam 15 in its raised position. A sleeve 66 is slidable upon the shaft 62, and interposed between the sleeve in the upper bearing 63 is a coiled spring 67, acting to move the sleeve moved downwardly. A bell crank leve-r 56 is pivotally connected at 69 to the sleeve, so that when the operating lever 5l is actuated by one ofthe car Wheels of the dump car, bearing upon the rod 5:2 and tilting the lever 54, the bell crank lever 56 may be tilted on its pivot, thereby moving the sleeve 66 upwardly, to tilt the latch members 58 inwardly of' the beam 15. It will be noted that when the latch members 58a are moved inwardly and disengaged from the beam. 65, allowing the rail supporting beam l5 to move downwardly.

A suitable tension spring 59 is connected to arms 60, which are carried by the shaft 50, thereby acting tohold the car wheel actuated lever in its normal position as shown in Figure 2.

When the dump car travels the treadle, when it is lowered, the wheels of 'the car operate upon one of the rail sections 4 and travels upon the rail section 16, and then the wheels of the car will travel upon the rail sections l of the tilting platform. The car will steadily move, until its wheels en` gage the horns, then, owing to the load in the car, the platform will automatically tilt, discharging the contents of the car.

v`When the wheels are in the act of engaging the horns 36, one of the car wheels operate the lever 51, which in turn actuates the hinge lever, which obviously in turn moves the link 54 and releases the latch 58. The rail supporting beam 15 will lower to its normal position.

Then the rail supporting` beam l returns to its normal position, it will impart movement on the bell crank lever 46, caus` ing it to actuate the bell crank lever 42, which will open the switch point 38 and close the switch point 37. lVhen the rail supporting beam is raised through the medium of the operation of the treadle, the rail supporting beam 15 will actuate the bell crank lever 46 in such wise as to close the switch point 38, and open the switch point 37, permitting the dump car to readily travel the rail section 1.6 and the opposite rail section 4.

The invention havingbeen set forth, what is claimed as being useful is:

l. ln a car dumping and switching mechanism, an incline-d track for the support of a -dump car to be loader, a dumping platN form at the lower end of said track and provided with rails to register with the rails of said track, a second track offset to the side of the first track and provided with curved rail sections merging toward and in alignment with the rails of said platform, the second track being inclined from the platform in an opposite direction to the first track with its lower endfl below and to one side of the higher end of the first track, a rail supporting beam including a rail piv` otally supported between the curved rails ot' the second track, with one end in regis` tration with a section of one of the rails of the first track, and its other end normally below another section of one of the rails of the first track, gravity retained means for holding the rail supporting beam tilted to its lowermost position, and adapted to be actuated by a dump car against the action of the gravity reta-ined means for raising the rail supporting tion to a position to register with the rails of the first track, said treadle having rail sections to splice the rail section of the rail supporting beam and one of the rails of the first track, whereby the dump,l car .may travel toward and upon the platform.

2. In a car dumping and switching mech` anism, an inclined track for the support of a dump car to be loaded, a dumping platform at the lower end of said track and provided with rails to register with the rails of said track, a second track offset to the side of the first track and provided with curved rail sections merging toward and in alignmentwith the railsof said platform, the second track 'being inclined from the plati `form in an opposite direction to the first track with its lower end below and to'y one side of the higher end of the first track, a rail supporting beam including a rail pivotally supported between the curved rails beam and its rail sec`y of the second track, with one end in regis` tration with a section of one of the, rails of the first track, and its other end normally below another sec-tion of one of the rails of the first track, gravity retained means f'or holding the rail supporting beam ltiltedto its lowermost position, and adapted to be actuated by a. dump car against the action of the gravity retained means for raising the rail supporting beam and its rail sec` tion to a position to register with the rails of the first track, said treadle having rail sections to splice the rail section of the rail supporting beam and one of the rails of the first track, whereby'the dump car may travel toward and upon the platform, and

a switch operatively connected to and actuated by the platform, whereby car may transiter from the platform rails to the rails of the second track.

3. ln a dumping and switching mechanism, an inclined track, upon the higher end of which a dump car may be loaded, a second track lying in an inclined plane in a return direction with its lower end to one side and below the higher end of the first track, the higher end of the second track having curved rails connecting with the rails of the lower end of the first track, one rail of the rst track having a cut away portion interrupting said rail, a. rail section mounted in said cut away port-ion and adapted to be tilted upwardly to partly fit said interruption, and

the dumpa gravity retained treadle to be actuated by a dump car and provided with a rail section to cooperate wi-th the first rail section to fill up the interruption in one of the rails of the first track.

4. In a dumping and switching mechanism, an inclined track, upon the higher end of which a dump car may be loaded, a second track lying in an inclined plane in a return direction with its lower end to one side and below the higher end of the first track, the higher end of the second track having curved rails connecting with the rails of the lower end of the iirst track, one rail of the lirst track having a cut away portion interrupting said rail, a rail section mounted in said cut away portion ,and adapted to be tilted upwardly to partly fit said interruption, and a gravity retained treadleto be actuated by a dump car and provided with a rail section to cooperate with the first rail section to fill up the interruption in one of the rails of the irst track, a dumping platform adjacent where the two tracks connect, means -for retaining said rail section in a tilted raised position, means carried by the dumping` platform and actuated by the dump car wheels and operatively connecting with and adapted to release said holding means to permit the rail section to return to its normal position.

5. In a dumping and switching mechanism, an inclined track, upon the higher end of which a dum p car may be loaded, a second track lying in an inclined plane in a. return direction with its lower end to one side and below the higher end of the first track, the higher end of the second track having curved rails connecting with the rails of the lower end of the lirst track, one rail of the first trackhaving a cut away portion interrupting said rail, a rail section mounted in said cut away portion and adapted to be tilted upwardly to partly fit said interruption, and a gravity retained treadle to be actuated by a dump car and provided with a rail section to cooperate with the first rail section to lill up the interruption in one of the rails of the first track, a dumping platform adjacent where the two tracks connect, means for re.- taining said rail section in a tilted raised position, means carried by the dumping platform and actuated by the dump car wheels and operatively connecting with and adapted to release said holding means to permit the rail section to return to its normal position, a switch operatively connected to and operated by the rail section for switching the dump car from the platform to the second track.

6. ln a car dumping and switching mechanism, a pair of tracks in parallelism with 4their corresponding ends adjacent, theI rails of one being curved and operatively connecting to the rails of the other` a dumping platform at the connected ends of the rails of both tracks, one track lying in a plane inclined upwardly from said platform, the other track lying in a plane inclined downwardly fromL said platform, means actuated by a dump car on the upwardly inclined track and adapted to bridge one of the curved rails to permit transmitting ofthe dump car over one of the rails of one of the tracks, holding devices for said means, and means carried by the platform and actuated by they wheels of the dump car and operatively connecting with and releasing said holding devices to permit restoration of said bridging means.

7. In a car dumping and switching mechanism, a pair of tracks in parallelism with their corresponding ends adjacent, the rails of one being curved and operatively connecting to the rails of the other, a dumping platform at the connected ends of the rails of both tracks, one track lying in a plane inclined upwardly from said platform, the other track lying in a plane inclined ydownwardly from said platform, means actuated by a dump car on the upwardly inclined track and adapted to bridge one of the curved rails to permit transmitting the dump car over one of the rails of onel of the tracks, holding devices for said means, and means carried by the platform and ,actuated by the wheels of the dump car and operatively connecting with and releasing said holding devices to permit restoration of said bridging means, and a switch operatively connected to and operated by said bridging means to transfer the dump car from the platform to the track which inclines downwardly from the platform in a return direction to the up-v wardly inclined track.

ln ltestimony whereof l hereunto affix my signature.

ROBERT H. STARBIRD. 

